As I discovered this morning, I had a little too much time on my hands and with that the surfing through old photos albums on Facebook began. Moments later I came across my photojournalism portraits for uni which I hadn’t seen in ages and I thought why not publish them on my blog – seems like a reasonable idea, as that is what my blog is here for; to showcase my skills.

To emulate a photographer’s work was the task.

I chose Yusuf Karsh as I loved his portraits as they were unique and different from the others. Karsh was a master in the use of studio lights and he liked to show a more human side to people via his photos. As Karsh wrote of his own work in Karsh Portfolio in 1967,

“Within every man and woman a secret is hidden, and as a photographer it is my task to reveal it if I can. The revelation, if it comes at all, will come in a small fraction of a second with an unconscious gesture, a gleam of the eye, a brief lifting of the mask that all humans wear to conceal their innermost selves from the world.”

To be honest, I only discovered his work through this module and I’m glad I did.

Yusuf Karsh (1908-2002) was born in Armenia, he moved to Canada at the age of 14 to live with his uncle George Nakash who was a photographer himself. He started off assisting his uncle in his studio and as he showed great talent into photography, Karsh was sent to study as an apprentice for John H. Garo – an eminent portrait photographer. He then went on open his own studio in 1932, Ottawa and rest is history.

From then on, he photographed some of the most famous people in history, from royalty, actors to politicians. To name a few – Winston Churchill, Queen Elizabeth II, Ernest Hemingway, Albert Einstein, Audrey Hepburn, Mother Teresa, Marilyn Monroe and many more.

Betty Low

From Karsh’s collection, this is my favourite portrait.

“I photographed this rising young ballerina and actress at the beginning of her prestigious career. She went on to dance in the renowned de Basil’s Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, and later acted in numerous productions on the New York stage. Today, she still pursues an active career in New York. In a recent letter, she recalled for me how I improvised her turban from the window curtains, which I tore down and draped around her head and shoulders.”| Yousuf Karsh

Two of my friends kindly agreed to model for me, at the time I thought it wouldn’t take that long but going by the amount of shots which came out duds, it took ages. So I will be eternally grateful to them for that. Being it was the first time I was doing any sort of professional studio photography; all in all I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and would love to do some more work in this field – perhaps a fashion magazine.

These are the three photos I had a go at emulating and which I handed in as my final photos.

As I stated in my previous post, I’m currently volunteering with the charity Crimestoppers, which is the UK’s only independent crime fighting charity and this year they are marking 25 years of fighting crime.

Working on an ad-hoc basis, I write media appeals to raise awareness of crime in the Peterborough (Cambridgeshire) area. Alongside this, a group of us are working on the Cycle Theft Campaign, in which we are trying to prevent cycles from being stolen.

There are two aspects to the campaign:

1) The prevention of cycle theft – what you can do to prevent cycle,

2) Encouraging the reporting of cycle theft: How to encourage people to report cycle theft.

The main message that needs to be put across is anonymity – that people can give information to Crimestoppers on cycle theft anonymously, and that there are two ways they can do this, one via the Crimestoppers website and two, ringing there 0800 number. People can also claim rewards, up to £1,000 if the information given leads to one or more people being arrested and charged.

So we had a meeting on July 5 and as the campaign is still in its planning stages, this will be a short update – don’t want you guys getting bored.

Overview:

Bicycle theft is seen as a common problem internationally. Generally it refers to the theft of the entire bike however, this can include component parts and accessories being stolen. Statistics in 2012, have shown that the cycle thefts in Peterborough peak between the months of July – Oct, where people are out and about. Research shows that offenders tend to target cycles in public settings; particularly schools, university campuses and transport hubs as they have a regular supply of unguarded bicycles.

My role:

My role in mainly dealing with the PR/media side of it such as writing press releases, news articles and features for the local newspaper and magazines. I can’t wait to get started!

Anyway I’ll update again on this as the campaign moves into its next phase, however at the moment it’s just getting in contact with the right people who can help get the message across.

Summer is finally here! But if the British weather is anything to go by, I’d enjoy it while it lasts!

I hope you’re all are fine and well! I am still alive and kicking and it’s nice to be back on the blogging scene. The reason I’ve been missing is that after writing a 10,000 word dissertation, I’ve lacked motivation to write anything at all and with uni ending I wanted to take a break which went on longer than I expected.

I had planned to write this post last week, however with me being on work experience at Rutland and Stamford Mercury newspaper it got delayed, anyway better late than never.

So now after four years of stressing out over exams and essays, I’ve completed uni and now I can finally say I’m a qualified journalist with Bachelor of Arts (Hons) with a 2:1 in Journalism.

Now that uni has end what’s next?

Rutland and Stamford Mercury Newspaper

In terms of work experience, as mentioned before I was at Rutland and Stamford Mercury newspaper last week where I had a great time, I remember arriving at the office feeling nervous and excited at the same time. However, the best thing was I wasn’t sitting there fiddling my thumbs for long – I was immediately given work, so in no time I was questioning people over the phone for quotes and comments. I even got a chance to interview people face-to-face regarding the National Care Home Open Day which was rather cool if I say so myself – I felt like a actual news reporter then. In the end, I was fortunate to write several articles even though only two made it into the actual newspaper – I believe it is the experience that counts.

While I was on work experience, I also received my result for my dissertation and it turned out I got 68%, which is a B. I admit I was a little disappointed at first because I was only two marks off a first and I had put so much hard work into it. This only lasted a few minutes because I was way too happy with finishing uni. YAY!!

The Job Hunt

To be honest, over the past few weeks I have been quite lost and alittle worried about the future, as the dreaded job search has begun and so has the process of staying up till 2AM to fill in endless applications, but I don’t mind it as I know it’ll be all worth it in end. While I have been job searching, some websites have been useful, some more than others – Twitter has been really useful for me and I totally recommend anyone on the job hunt to make use of it! Now my everyday routine includes looking for journalism jobs on the internet in either newspapers, magazines or online – I don’t want to be picky at the moment although I’m still trying to steer clear of some editorial assistant jobs as I have heard they’ll have you do all admin duties except writing. I’m still staying positive because it’s easy to give up when you get demotivated, say I can’t do it, I’ll never get a job in journalism – but you got to keep trying. That’s my motto anyway.

Crimestoppers

Crimestoppers

Moving on to a different note, I’m currently writing press releases for the charity Crimestoppers to raise awareness for specific crimes in the Cambridgeshire area which should help in getting people to report on crimes and in return catch more offenders. Apart from that, I’m going to be working on a Cycle Theft Campaign with them and other students – but that’s all I know at the moment, however I have a meeting on July 5 where everything should be explained. I think I’ll write another post about that.

Finally on a general note, I’m thinking about changing my blog title to make it more journalism orientated, currently it’s just faltering with History Starts Now so need a more permanent title. Any suggestions are welcome – so go on, leave a comment and I’ll meet you guys in my next post!

Happy Belated New Year everyone! So this is officially my first blog entry in 2013, 🙂 as for resolutions I have not kept any for this year – because to be honest I cannot keep them; I have tried and failed. Now for once trying something new!

Moving on, over the last few days a white blanket has covered England which has been playing on everyone’s mind and on the news quite alot; this has caused inconveniences for many people, through traffic and the transport. If you haven’t guessed already, it’s snow! Yes, it has snowed, the temperatures have dropped around most parts in the UK but I love it because I know it’ll be gone in a few days and won’t be seen again for a year or so. The best thing is that it’s my birthday on the 24th January, and usually it’s raining but not this year I’m happy to say, although slipping on the snow is not something I’m looking forward to. So thank god, Uni has not started yet.

Firstly, as it’s Christmas Day, I want to wish all my readers a very Merry Christmas!

So what does Christmas mean to me; to be honest it’s just an average day for me and it doesn’t mean anything.

Christmas is not a Muslim holiday; however I admit I enjoy the festive period leading up to Christmas day, such as the Christmas lights being put up at the Cathedral Square, the Christmas movies on television and if by chance it snows (which happens every blue moon), I’ll enjoy playing snowball fights with my brothers and sisters.

The Christmas Lights at Cathedral Square, Peterborough

I know it’s a short entry but as I was not up to much today – thought I’ll write a little something for you guys!

It’s been quite some time since my last blog entry. I’m disappointed I haven’t been able to post regularly on this blog. Reason being my internet has been up and down lately due to some unknown factor, so I have my best detectives working on it! Yep, you heard right…Sherlock and Watson are now working for me.

Awaiting the results for any exam is torture but waiting for the shorthand exam result is much worse. I’m hoping they will be up on e-vision in a few weeks. Fingers crossed! I pass, though I feel I messed up the exam big time. Shorthand has always been tough for me and the exam has made me realise that I am not fast as I thought I was and this has effected my confidence in some way. The book which helped me through was Teeline for Journalists by Dawn Johnston although I have read great reviews on the book NCTJ Teeline Gold Standard for Journalists by Marie Cartwright. So will let everyone know how I did and hopefully won’t need to resit the dreaded exam in July!

I am currently working on a couple of ideas for my next pieces, alongside I’m also searching for a work placement for over summer. I have had some experience in working at a magazine before, which is why I’m still holding out for newspapers. It’s such a pity that The Evening Telegraph in Peterborough turned from a daily to a weekly newspaper, would’ve loved to have done some work experience there.

Anyways my new motto which I am following right now is: I don’t stop when I’m tired, I stop when I’m done.